Cantharellus cibarius, the chanterelle, is an edible mushroom that is highly desired because of its texture and delicate taste.
Cantharellus is a homobasidiomycete genus, i.e., spores are found on unicellular basidia, in contrast to spores of a heretobasidiomycete genus. The Cantharellus fruit body is gymnocarpic, e.e. naked from the time of its first appearance and not protected by a veil as in Amanita. The pileus (cap) has a sterile top, which distinguishes it from the Clavariaceae. Cantharellus fruit bodies are fleshy and long lived but not perennial. The hymenium (spore producing layer) is either smooth or folded, with ridges on the stem and pileus. The gill-like ridges of Cantharellus differ from true gills of the order Agaricales. The Cantharellus hymenium thickens as new basidia develop over the layer of older ones. By contrast, the basidia form a monolayer in the Agaricales. Cantharellus basidia are stichic and long, and bear long curved sterigmata. Spores are smooth, white or yellow and of variable size. The number of spores per basidium varies between 2 and 8 within the same fruit body's hymenium. The haploid chromosome number in C. cibarius is 2. No cystidia (sterile hyphal ends with characteristic morphologies different from normal sterile hyphal ends) are present. Hyphae are monomitic, i.e. have thin-walled generative hyphae. The presence of clamp connections distinguishes Cantharellus from Craterellus and Pseudocraterellus. C. pallens and C. amethysteus are sometimes treated as varieties of C. cibarius, but sometimes considered separate species.
Cantharellus is included in section Leptocantharellus. The other subgenus of this section, Phaeocantharellus, is characterized by black or brown aliphatic pigments as in C. tubaeformis, whereas Cantharellus cibarius cytoplasm contains bicyclic carotenoid pigments which are characteristic of the subgenus Cantharellus. A related organism, C. pallens has pale fruit bodies but a pigmented hymenium. Carotenoids are rare among agaric fungi.
C. cibarius is an ectomycorrhizal fungus, i.e., it is capable of colonizing the roots of appropriate host trees. C. cibarius forms external yellow, white or brown mantles and internal Hartig nets between cortical cells, which distinguishes it from saprobic fungi.
About 13 volatile acids and 36 other volatile compounds have been identified from C. cibarius. Pyysalo, H., Acta Chem. Scand. B30:235-244 (1976). Octenols (causing the characteristic smell of mushrooms in general), caproic acid and acetic acid were found in highest concentrations.
Because it is a highly appreciated species, chanterelles have become an item of commerce. Fresh, salted and canned fruit bodies of C. cibarius are imported into various European countries. North-American chanterelles are exported to Europe, mainly Germany, because the chanterelle population is declining in that country. American chanterelles (C. subalbidus Smith & Morse and C. formosus Corner) are considered to be of lower quality, in terms of taste and texture, compared to the European chanterelle (C. cibarius Fr.Fr.).